WATCH: Washington hangs on to upset No. 11 Michigan State at home
Michigan State entered the game as the favorite, but it was Washington who came away with the upset victory Saturday night in Seattle. The Spartans didn’t make it easy, though.
Washington had a commanding 36-14 lead at one point, but Michigan State battled back to make it 39-28 with 5:17 to play in the fourth quarter. Despite the late surge, the Huskies held on to leave Husky Stadium with the win, creating plenty of momentum entering conference play.
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Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had a huge night leading the Washington offense. He went 24-for-40 passing for 397 yards and four touchdowns, including three touchdown passes to Ja’Lynn Polk. It was quite a performance, and one the Huskies needed to get the victory after Michigan State’s late surge.
Penix is more than familiar with Michigan State from his time at Indiana, where he threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns against Mel Tucker’s group in 2020. Saturday’s game was his third game with Washington since arriving via the transfer portal.
For Michigan State, the duo of Payton Thorne and Keon Coleman got the Spartans back into the game late. Thorne threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns and Coleman had 116 of those yards to go with two touchdowns. One of their biggest plays came in the fourth quarter when Thorne completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Coleman and, after a successful two-point conversion, cut the Washington lead to 11.
But it wasn’t enough as the Huskies managed to fight off the late surge and get the victory. Washington now improves to 3-0 to start the Kalen DeBoer era after hiring him away from Fresno State over the offseason, and the Penix-led offense has the Huskies in good position entering a Week 4 showdown against Stanford to open Pac-12 play.